Argyll Arcade

Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, Postcards Collection

This 1908 postcard illustrates the interior of the Argyll Arcade, the earliest shopping arcade in Scotland. It is an enclosed glass walkway within a cast iron framework.

Designed by John Baird Snr for John Reid Robertson in 1827, the arcade was said to have been influenced by similar arcades in London and Paris. Although named "Argyll Arcade" (and one of its entrances is indeed on Argyle Street) the arcade is L-shaped and finishes on Buchanan Street.

The arcade's situation, connecting two of Glasgow's main shopping streets, has always attracted a high proportion of shops selling expensive jewellery and watches. However, generations of small boys remember the Clyde Model Dockyard that flourished there, in the shop at the corner of the "L".

Reference: Mitchell Library GC Postcards

Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning